[ScottBarton]

Yup...noticed a few holes being dug here and there over the last few days. Lifted up one of the paving slabs in the coop and there is a tunnel to the outside.
I also found some rather large droppings in an old bucket that was laying on its side adjacent to the hen house. Looks like they are using it as a toilet! 

OK. I need to get rid of them, but is there anything else i need to be aware of? Am going for the kill method, traps as a preference rather than poison. Am fully aware of Weils and Leptospirosis so will be careful when clearing up....anything else?

[poultrygeist]

Whatever method you use, make sure it's humane (rats deserve to die quickly too) and ensure nothing else can get to it.

A length of guttering is often cited for placing poison but not sure how much room you would need for a trap.
They are very inquisitive but also very intelligent and can problem solve. Small mammals need to be thought of as well. DOn't want to trap any hedgehogs or shrews.

Good luck

Rob

[karlooben]

i am fully against killing anything but as my girls are on the allotments i have to aware of other plot holders an when i knew i had rats i went out an got a bait box which has proven to work really well  { its hidden under pallets within the run that the girls cant get to cant really put it outside the run as theres to many kids on the site } as i havent seen any since althoughh thats not to say they still dont visit the run during the night .

[mrs.ploppy]

I would get a good hunting cat or like me I have 2 Jack Russels but only one catches the rats.  Even the smell of dogs can detur them.  My bitch came in today with a huge rat and guarded it in her basket for a while before giving it up but they do kill them instantly by breaking the neck when they shake them.  4 so far this year and we dont really have a problem.  As soon as they sense danger they go elsewhere!  Todays one was a whopper!!  No poison to leave to chace that something else including nosy chickens may consume.

[Roughlee Handled]

First question I would as is "Why have I got Rats?"  "What has attracted them?"

It is your chicken feed.

Do you pick it up at night?
Do you broadcast split corn by hand?

Why not try a treadle feeder?

With rodents I worry that my chickens will eat the poisoned  ones.

But as a last resort I have used poison.

[ScottBarton]

Hmmm.
Yes i have tended to leave the food out for them all the time.
Last night i removed it and stored it away safely, replacing it this morning before i went to work.

As for scatter corn, i tend to feed them by hand and throw some loose on the grass, but they soon hoover that up so am confident none remains for vermin.

At the weekend i am going to lift up all the slabs in the run and lay some wire mesh i had left over when i built my extension, followed by the slabs again on top. I am then going to concrete in some more bricks at the base and finally concrete the hole in the bank where i think they are. This should stop them burrowing in underneath.

I have also bought some large rat traps that kill.
If the wife ever found out we have a rat she will go ballistic!!!

Really dont want poison due to the proximity of the tunnels and the run/chicken house. I also have a cat, and the last thing i would want is for her to play with a dead poisoned rat.

[RIKJD89]

iv heard peanut butter is good at attracting them to traps just make sure the chickens cant get to it

[GrannieAnnie]

A chap on Grimefighters on the TV the other night said he uses chocolate spread on the traps.  They love chocolate too!!!

[ScottBarton]

I have choc and peanut butter in the cupboard so shall knock up a tasty treat for them......mwahah ha ha!    It will be thier last.......

Just bought a powerful 'Rentokil' kill trap from Robert Dyas and tested it with a pencil....it chopped the pencil in half. That should do it. 

 

Dont get me wrong, i hate the thought of killing things...but i have a friend who has suffered first hand with Leptospirosis and i dont want to take any chances with my 4 year old running round the garden.

[GrannieAnnie]

We've got a large dyke/land drain down the back of us, so we have rats all the time.  I hate the things.  I also don't like killing things, but I'd rather kill a rat than them get away with anything around here!!!!

[ScottBarton]

Exactly.

I have also just rang my local gun shop and i can get a complete .22 air rifle set up for £150.

Hmmmm.....tempted.

[nzdunn]

gees i hope you get the little so and so :blink:, i have stepped up my cleaning outside as i know its the season when you can draw them in so to speak.  My feeder is kept on a patio, so when the girls go to bed its easily swept up and then i take the feeder in the house were i store there food.   I feed mixed corn before it gets dark but i only feed enough to do them and they always clean every bit of corn up.   nickyx

[lightyears]

ive had this problem recently(see my post) ive caught 3 in a t rex trap so far, shot two and they have eaten a whole seed tray of poison, i think im getting on top of them now

[grumpydad]

i have a permanently set bait station under the shed with blocks that the rats and mice can gnaw on, none seen for a while.

ascot supplies did have an electrical rat killer that was battery operated to get rid of the problem, like a station, only allowed a rat in, then set off a light to tell you it had been activated, have not bought one, as the problem is not that big, i take the food up at night

[karlooben]

u have the same sort of thing as me grumpydad  by the sounds of it  and i know clean up all my food but at times i have put it to the test an left stuff out and its not been touched in a long long while . i think tonight i forgot by mistake to pick up the odd pellets in the bowl as i got back from the vets when it was dark an the chicken i took was a nervous one so  i wanted to get her settled fast , will see in the morning if any of it has been touched or not .